Sam DeBord - Seattle Real Estate Broker, Realtor - SeattleHome.com

Rebar mini camp in Bellevue was good half day of information. There were some very informative attendees, good topics, an overall educational camp. I can see how these last a full day easily. We could have had quite a few more sessions.

I've heard more discussion lately of "levels" of classes needing to be offered. Some discussions get bogged down in beginner minutiae, which is great for those just learning to use the technologies. There aer a handful of real estate pros in these same sessions that could really pow-wow into a smaller group and discuss the higher-level issues they're working with. It might require some organization, and it's frankly amazing that the organizers can already make these sessions happen on the fly. It's a well-oiled machine, for something that goes from index cards to sessions in 10 minutes.

One great session today was Jim Reppond's "Twitter 201". There was no beginner stuff, just Twitter add-ons, advanced features, strategies for getting noticed, re-tweeted, etc. The group seemed very well-informed, and I think these kinds of sessions could keep more tech-savvy pros involved. We may just need to have at least one high-level session per hour, all day long.

Overall, nice work, folks, I enjoyed meeting some new faces and some old one that I've only ever seen online before.

Foreclosures aren't always boarded-up windows, stained carpets, and concrete-filled toilets. These bank-owned properties are high-end luxury homes that have sold in the Greater Seattle metro this year for over $1 million. Not too shabby for "distressed" properties.

Kirkland - Holmes Point
$1,500,000
This lakeview home has 6000 sq ft of living space, was built in 2007. It has a boat slip, a theatre, and an elevator. I wonder if any bank executives spent a weekend here "researching" the property.

Seattle - Magnolia
$1,350,000
This 6 bedroom, 4.5 bath house took just one week on the market to sell. The new owners got a 4700 sq ft new construction home with views of Elliott Bay, the Space Needle, and downtown Seattle. Apparently the outlook from the foreclosure crunch isn't bad for everyone involved.

Bellevue - Downtown
$1,300,000
This 2008-built house is true Northwest-style construction. It's 4200 sq ft, 5 bed, 3.75 bath, on an 8500 sq ft lot. With this downtown Bellevue location, that's some valuable dirt and a very short commute to some of the best jobs in the region.

Kirkland - West of Market
$1,250,000
This house has sweeping views of Lake Washington, Kirkland, and even downtown Seattle's skyscrapers. It was on the market for almost a year. 5 beds, 4.5 baths, and a detached 1/1 water view apartment make up 4800 square feet of living space.

Kirkland - Juanita
Adding to Kirkland's total on the luxury foreclosure infamy list is this lakeview, 2005-built beauty. It's 5 beds, 4 baths, and 4600 sq ft. The views are spectacular, and the home has community waterfront access. The styling is very modern, and the use of the view is maximized throughout the home.

Mercer Island - Madrona Crest
$1,100,000
Mercer Island joins the party with this "modest for this list" home, at just 3500 sq ft. It has 4 beds, 2.5 baths, and was built in 2008. With 10,000 sq ft of land, this is a big Mercer Island lot and a great location.

Yarrow Point
$1,000,000
This is the oldest of our million-dollar foreclosures, an early 1960s home. The majority of homes on Yarrow Point and Hunts Point are older/remodeled homes, and rately go for less than 6 figures if they have waterfront/water views. This one was snapped up after just 9 days on the market.

(This is just the view - not the house. The one you're looking at is probably $8 million.)

Foreclosures are a bad situation for some, but for buyers with the ability to make a sale happen right now, there are some real discounts to be had on luxury and waterfront homes.

Seattle Floating Homes

There have been a good number of new waterfront foreclosures in the Seattle area. From creeks to Lake Washington waterfront, these properties are usually well-priced.

Surprisingly, there are still three bank-owned floating homes for sale. These properties have been on the market for a while, and are not your average houseboats. They're newly-built, high-end, floating homes with quality appliances and building materials. It takes a unique buyer to live in a floating home, but these seem to be very inexpensive compared to the prices we've seen over the past few years:
Seattle floating homes

The highest-end home is a waterfront home in Holmes Point. This Lake Washington waterfront home in in the North end of Kirkland and is listed around $3.5 million. Clearly, if it was still owned by a traditional home owner it would be priced higher than this. There are some real deals for waterfront home buyers available, if they're willing to tread in the waters of bank-owned homes.

We've seen a slight increase in the number of foreclosures and bank-owned homes showing up for sale on the MLS in Seattle. While most of these homes were low-end homes at the beginning, we're starting to see more luxury homes reverting back to the banks and coming on the market.

Kirkland is a perfect example. While there were only a couple dozen average-priced bank-owned homes on the MLS a couple of months ago, there are multiple million-dollar plus foreclosures for sale today (including a beautiful place on Lake Washington waterfront) -- take a look:
Kirkland bank-owned homes

In Seattle proper, there are two homes listed around the $2 million mark. We don't expect to see foreclosures in Leschi, but it's a shock to see one in Broadmoor. These are still high-end, quality homes, they just happen to be owned by a bank now.
Seattle bank-owned homes